


Of A Feather

by Eternally_Exhausted



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: AU of an AU, M/M, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23744713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternally_Exhausted/pseuds/Eternally_Exhausted
Summary: AU of an AU. 'Cause the plot bunny bithard.
Relationships: Lord Business | President Business/Good Cop
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shamaru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shamaru/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Mountain Bird](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23604727) by [Shamaru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shamaru/pseuds/Shamaru). 



> AU of an AU. 'Cause the plot bunny bit _hard_.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d sat there, hunched in the snow, but his throat was raw from screaming himself hoarse, and he felt like there wasn’t an ounce of warmth left in his body. He should probably move soon, lest he freeze to death.

He hadn’t quite mustered up the energy to do so when he heard snow crunching in the cadence of someone’s footsteps. The steps stopped at his side, and he turned his head.

He sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening and rearing back as much as he could manage as he spied the most _massive_ talons he’d ever seen in his life. “Easy,” a gentle voice soothed, and the other crouched down, spreading an enormous wing over him. He blinked at the warmth that radiated off the extended limb. “They abandoned you.” It wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway.

More footsteps approached. “We heard the screaming,” came a second voice, much like the first but deeper, gruffer. “Thought one of our own was being killed.” Sirius snorted.

“Not dead yet,” he rasped.

“Oh dear, look at you,” a woman fussed. “You must be chilled through! Boys-”

“Already on it, Mum,” the second stranger spoke, and Sirius heard flapping as he took off. He found himself lifted back to his feet by the woman. He glanced up as the first stranger stood with him, craning his neck to be able to see the other’s face. For a moment, he was breathless. An alpha. That was an _alpha!_ He’d thought they only ever existed in stories. He shivered and glanced around, spotting another two males nearby- the woman’s mate and their youngest, he guessed. _Three sons_. How incredible. The family seemed to move as one, the alpha and his father moving away to gather the abandoned bundles of wood as the mother made quick work of building a fire and pulling him close to it. The youngest stepped closer, shrugging off his pack, and Sirius realized with a start he was no child but a fully fledged adult, just surprisingly small. He blinked as a blanket was produced from the pack and draped around him.

Father and son appeared to be building a new shelter out of the materials left behind by his flock, and they were surprisingly efficient at doing it quickly. He could only guess they must have done it many times before. No other sirens had joined them yet; was it just this family, all on their own? “Keelan, be a dear and keep him warm? I’m going to go help with the shelter.”

“Yes, Mum.” Keelan scooted closer to press against his side. Sirius stared down at him. Keelan stared back with big, disconcerting white eyes.

“…Why do you have a blanket?”

“To stay warm. Why else?” Sirius huffed at the snark. Keelan laughed. “Two-fold c-curse, really. One, Mum and Dad are from the _original_ flock. Cold weather isn’t, uh, isn’t really our th-thing anyway. Two, my- my down’s even thinner than theirs. I c-can’t maintain body heat. So. Blanket.”

“And she asks _you_ to keep _me_ warm.”

“I’m not the one who’s b-been sitting in the snow soaked to the bone f-for who knows how long.” Sirius rolled his eyes, but made no further comment.

~* *~

The shelter had been finished in record time. Sirius was both surprised and pleased to find that it did not leak. The other brother- who turned out to be another alpha, twin to the first he’d met- had returned with a large elk that became dinner that night. It was the most he’d had in weeks, and he had very nearly made himself sick, trying to eat more than his stomach could handle.

He learned that the family was indeed alone. Nora and Daniel (“Mum and Dad”) had left their flock at a very young age- they were both barely adults- after an incident that would have otherwise cost their lives. They’d settled in human territory, served some human king for a while, and fled when they were blamed for his murder. Keelan hadn’t even fledged into his juvenile plumage yet, showing just how long they’d been on the run. “I don’t think they’re looking for us anymore,” Cary (one of the twins) grunted. “It’s been so long.”

“Then why haven’t you found another flock to join and settled?”

“That’s actually what we’re trying to do,” Alastar explained. “We’ve heard of a flock we think we would very much like to join. Sadly, the closest we’ve come to finding them was when we’d first heard of them- we missed them by a day. They’re remarkably difficult to track down.” He gave Sirius a considering look. “Would you like to come with us?”

Sirius gave him a flat stare in response. “Don’t know if you noticed, but my wings are useless. I _can’t fly_.”

“We did notice, and we took that into account.”

He was baffled. “Then how-”

“They have to carry me sometimes,” Keelan explained. “I can fly, but I get tired easily. So we made a harness I can hold onto when I need it. I haven’t needed it as much lately, though, so if you’re okay with it, we could use that to bring you with us.”

“As long as you _tell us_ when you’re getting tired,” Cary huffed at him.

“You would actually do that…? For a complete stranger?”

“Absolutely,” Daniel insisted. “We couldn’t live with ourselves if we left you alone to fend for yourself, circumstances being what they are. What do you say?”

Sirius glanced around at their faces, thinking it over. This family of strangers had done more for him in the past few hours than his _own flock_ had since he’d been tossed over that cliff. They had helped him, accepted him, offered to _take him with them_ , while asking nothing in return.

“…Are you sure I won’t be a burden?”

Alastar gave him a reassuring smile. “Not in the least bit, promise.”

“Alright. I’ll come.”

He listened as the family sang together while they relaxed before sleep, and was grateful when they didn’t question why he didn’t join in. There was a bit of brotherly bickering as they piled into the nest for the night- “Oh I see, Cary’s your favorite brother tonight,” Alastar mock-pouted as Keelan snuggled in close to the twin in question, causing the youngest brother to snicker at him. Sirius smiled to himself as he watched them, and let out an indignant squawk as Alastar pulled him down into the (soft, dry, _warm_ ) nest with them.

“What-”

“You’re as good as flock now,” Nora told him, giving him a gentle smile. “You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

He could only stare wordlessly as a wing stretched over him, offering warmth and protection, and closed his eyes, trying not to cry himself to sleep at the kindness of this strange family.

~* *~

“I’m still amazed that you’re even remotely okay with carrying someone you hardly even know on your back,” Sirius grunted as Daniel (or Pa, as he’d insisted Sirius start calling him) finished binding his limp wings to his back. “You really trust me just like that not to- to stab you, or something?”

Alastar rolled his eyes as he finished fastening the harness into place. “Because trying to kill me while we’re hundreds of feet into the air would _totally_ be the brilliant thing to do,” he retorted, grinning at him. “Besides, I don’t see you carrying a knife.”

“You’re missing the point,” Sirius huffed at him.

“Yes. I trust you. Now stop fussing.”

“Well maybe _I_ don’t trust _you_.”

“That wasn’t the tune you were singing last night,” the alpha teased. He didn’t miss the flash of hurt that crossed the other’s face as he opened his mouth to retort, but no sound came out. “I’ve overstepped, haven’t I?” he said softly. “I’m sorry.”

Sirius glanced away from the curious looks he was getting. “I can’t sing,” he muttered. Alastar clapped his hands over his mouth, looking horrified at himself.

“Oh my goodness I’m really sorry! I shouldn’t have said that, it was so insensitive of me-”

“You didn’t know.” He shrugged. “You’re right anyway, I _did_ agree to come.”

“But you’re having second thoughts,” Ma murmured. “Now that you’ve had time to think it through.”

He took a deep breath. “The last time I trusted someone too quickly, she tried to kill me. Very nearly succeeded. And I almost fell for ‘too good to be true’ again. So now I’m wondering what the catch is.”

“There’s no catch, dear. We just know what it’s like to be in a rough place.” Ma spread her hands. “You don’t have to trust us. If you decide you want to stay after all, that’s your choice and we will respect it. But at least allow us to make sure you’re better prepared to look after yourself?”

Sirius swallowed hard, studying each of their faces, but just as the night before, there was no trace of deceit or wounded pride, only genuine concern. “You really mean it.”

“We really mean it.”

He drew in a shaky breath. Maybe it would be okay to take that leap of faith, this time. “Okay,” he said softly. “I’ll… I’ll come.”

“You’re absolutely sure?”

“Yes.” Lifting his chin in determination, he stepped closer to Alastar, who crouched down to help him better reach the harness. He gripped the leather strap stretched across the alpha’s shoulders, talons clutching securely around the footholds. “Alright. I’m ready.”

“Hold tight, takeoff can be a little rough,” Keelan warned. Sirius nodded once, and let out a yelp as Alastar leaped up off the ground, wings flapping hard to lift them away from it. There was a moment where it seemed they wouldn’t make it, but then he cracked his eyes open, sucking in a sharp breath at seeing the ground so far below them, the rest of the family shouldering their packs and catching up to them.

And to think he never thought he would be airborne again…

~* *~

Sirius had never once imagined just how _big_ the world might be. Alex had sometimes spoken of wanting to leave the village, see what else was out there, but the nesting grounds and the woods were all the world Sirius had needed. After his wings were broken, that was all the world he thought he would ever have.

And yet here he was, seeing the vast world with his own eyes, visiting the territories of a number of other species on their quest to find this flock. It had never occurred to him that there could be other species than just siren and human. Some of them were quite nice, some barely tolerated their presence. Sirius decided he _really_ liked elves, though. They were by far the most helpful and laid back of any of the species they met on their travels.

He quickly learned the ropes of navigating a largely human-dominated world. Money had been a difficult concept to figure out. Humans weren’t the only species to use it, but they certainly seemed to put the most emphasis on it. “It seems so… pointless, trading these little bits of metal or paper for food and shelter.”

“There’s so many of them now, I think they’ve forgotten how to function as a flock,” Alastar told him.

But even with meeting so many different creatures since leaving the nesting grounds, it didn’t prepare Sirius for the possibility of falling prey to one of their own cousins. Keelan had barely had time to shriek a warning and dive out of the harpy's way, leaving her to snatch Sirius instead. He briefly lost the ability to breathe as the harpy’s sharp claws sank into his wings, _through_ his wings, and into his back. Cary wheeled after them immediately, Alastar close behind once he recovered, but the harpy was faster. Sirius was losing sight of them quickly. When he could no longer see them he forced as deep a breath as he could manage into his lungs and screamed. The harpy jolted in shock, and squeezed tighter, forcing his scream down to a pained whimper. After that, it was a struggle just to get any air at all into his lungs.

Things got a little hazy. He wasn’t sure how long the harpy flew on for, with a jolt he realized she’d come to a forest. She dropped him to the ground, landing with one claw pressing him into the dead leaves, hissing in anticipation. Her jaw opened, revealing a lot of sharp teeth, and she leaned in, ready to take a chunk out of him.

She never got the chance. There was a flash of dark red, the sound of bones cracking, and an explosion of feathers followed very quickly by the sound of two large bodies hitting the ground. The harpy shrieked in fury, only to be answered by an equally enraged scream. He hurt too much to get up and see what was happening. He decided he didn’t need to, though, when the very welcome sight of Alastar’s face came into view, and he was carefully lifted into the alpha’s strong arms. He managed to turn his head to see Cary fighting the harpy, and winning, by the looks of it. He flinched and looked away as one of Cary’s sharp spurs came down across her throat, burying his face in Alastar’s shoulder and starting to sob as the shock finally settled in. “You’re safe now,” Alastar crooned, cradling him close, mindful of his injuries.

A few minutes later the rest of the family landed nearby. Pa was already shrugging off his pack before he even hit the ground, pulling out his medical kit. “We can’t stay,” Ma said. “There’s no telling how many more of them might be about.”

Cary nodded his agreement. “They’ll have heard the fighting and will want to investigate. We should move before they find us.”

“The harness broke though,” Alastar argued. “And he’s not really in any shape to be moved anyway.”

“I’ve been through worse,” Sirius panted. “Just go, I’ll manage.”

“Alright, but let me know if it hurts too much.”

“Up you get,” Cary said, nudging Keelan onto his back. The youngest brother didn’t look like he could handle much more intense flight. They took off again, and not a moment too soon- it was a matter of minutes before they heard screaming coming from the forest below.

“Hurry!” Ma urged.

“Down there,” Keelan pointed, murmuring into Cary’s ear. “There’s a place we can hide down there.” Sure enough, there was an abandoned hut coming up below them. Cary dove down toward it, the others following, and they hurried inside before the harpies could spot them. Once inside they took a good look around. The place looked like it had been sitting empty for some time; it was in obvious disrepair, but still sound enough to provide shelter for a short while. Pa finally set to work inspecting the lacerations left behind by the harpy’s talons, carefully removing feathers from around each puncture to prepare them for stitches. Cary stood near one of the windows, keeping an eye and an ear out for any possible trouble, but the harpies took no notice of them. Soon the sounds of their shrieking died down as they gave up the hunt.

Sirius hissed as the needle poked and pulled through his skin, gripping Alastar’s hands when they were offered. Pa hadn’t had anything on hand to numb the pain with, and so he would simply have to bear it. Keelan had poked around the little cabin and come up with a bowl to collect water in, leaving with Ma to do just that once they decided it was safe enough to do so.

Pa had finished stitching up Sirius’ back and wings by the time they returned, and had left him to rest on the only bed to be found. He closed his eyes, letting out a morose grumble at being left alone, only to open them again when someone returned. It was Alastar, holding the bowl of water and a cloth. “Mind if I help you clean up?” he asked.

“ _Please_ ,” Sirius said, carefully scooting over to give the other some room to sit down. Alastar’s touch was gentle as he wiped the cloth over the bloodied feathers, cleaning the dried blood away. Sirius listened to him humming softly as he worked. Once Alastar was done with the water he raked careful claws through Sirius’ feathers, gently combing them back into place.

It was the first time anyone else had ever preened him. It was… _nice_. Relaxing. He felt himself drowsing, lulled by Alastar’s pleasant humming and soothing touch.

Something warm and comfortable bloomed in his chest in that quiet moment. He poked at it, examined it. It wasn’t at all uncertain, like it had been with Amelie. It felt _right_. He embraced it, let it stay without fuss, and slowly drifted off as he basked in its presence.

It wasn’t until he woke again that he remembered he had no way of conveying that feeling.


	2. Chapter 2

They seemed to finally be getting on track. The next town they stopped at had news of the flock they were chasing- _recent_ news. The traveling flock had been there no more than a month before the family. “Said they were heading north,” they were told. Sirius managed to barter a decent map off of someone.

“What’s that for?” Keelan asked.

“Keeping track,” Sirius told him. “I’ve got a hunch.”

It was also something to keep him distracted from the growing despair. How could he ever hope to win Alastar’s affections when he _couldn’t properly court?_ He couldn’t sing, he couldn’t display, he couldn’t provide- and he was a literal burden to the twins because of his useless wings, however much they might deny it. He couldn’t even pull his own weight. Returning the favor of preening was a possible option, but he doubted it would work to properly convey his interests. After all, he’d seen the family, and family members of his old flock, engaging in the practice as ‘family bonding time’.

…That thought brought up an old ache he thought he’d long moved past.

“Are you alright?” Alastar asked, giving him a worried look. Sirius drew in a breath and wiped at his face. He hadn’t even noticed the tears trailing down his cheeks.

“Just… thinking,” he murmured. “About things I haven’t given thought to for… a very long time.”

“May I ask?”

Sirius drew in a shaky breath and slowly let it out. “I had just started to fledge. The other younglings and I… we played by the cliffs, used their height to practice flying. We met some young humans one day. The grown-ups… They’d always told us not to wander far from the cliffs, that there was danger beyond the boundaries of the nesting grounds. We never thought…” He swallowed hard. “Alex had been my _friend_. I tried to save him, when he lost his footing, but I wasn’t fast enough… The others, they brought the adults back to the cliffs with them. They broke one of my wings. My parents were _furious_. I begged them not to go… They never came back.”

“Oh, Sirius…”

“Don’t pity me,” he hissed.

“I don’t,” Alastar murmured. “But… it does explain a lot. Your flock- you were pretty much on your own from then on, weren’t you? No one bothered to take you in.” Sirius nodded once. “Is that why you can’t fly…?”

“No. Our medicine woman’s apprentice tried to set the bone in my wing- she couldn’t be bothered to do it herself- so it didn’t heal right, but I still had some limited ability to fly. No, _this_ ,” he gestured to his limp wings, “happened some years later.”

“…The reason why you couldn’t trust us,” Alastar realized.

“Yes.” He hesitated for a moment, then reached out to carefully wrap his hand around Alastar’s wrist. “I’m glad I was wrong, though.” Alastar beamed at him.

“So am I.”

~* *~

Sirius kept track of the purported movements of the flock as they continued to travel, recording the towns he could remember hearing about them in before he’d bought his map, and recording where they had stopped since. A pattern was starting to appear. He was certain of it. There just… wasn’t enough of it yet to make any predictions.

He continued to wrack his brain for any possible ideas for less conventional courting methods, but still nothing came to mind. He’d found he had a knack for getting them better deals when bartering with the humans, and they were better equipped now than when he’d first met the family, but it didn’t seem to impress Alastar. He had no other skills to speak of. And Alastar seemed to have no interest in him, in turn. He was capable of at least _accepting_ a courtship, if not starting it… Perhaps he’d made a wrong choice, after all.

He tried to ignore the way Keelan was watching him lately. The youngest Callaghan had the most uncanny senses, and he wasn’t ready for a confrontation. Seemed Keelan had other ideas, though.

“You want to talk about it?”

“About what?” he muttered, though he had a feeling Keelan knew perfectly well what ‘it’ was.

“What’s b-been eating you lately.” Sirius didn’t answer. “And what my brother has to do with it.” He grinned as Sirius gave him a startled look. “Yeah. I have eyes.”

“It’s nothing. Telling you won’t change it anyway.”

“But it might make you feel better.”

“Not really,” Sirius sighed. “Don’t worry about it, Kee’.” Keelan looked like he wanted to continue arguing, but decided against it. Sirius was grateful for it- and for Keelan not siccing Alastar on him about it either.

The more time went on, the more he considered leaving the family. He would forever be grateful to them for rescuing him; he wouldn’t have survived the winter otherwise. But things were getting to a point where it hurt too much to be around them, to be around Alastar. Perhaps he would stay behind in one of the friendlier human towns- he felt he could make a place for himself with them, perhaps as a merchant.

Finally, after several more weeks of near misses, the pattern on the map revealed itself. “ _There_ ,” Sirius said, tapping out a town. “ _That’s_ where we’ll finally catch up to them!”

“You’re certain?” Ma asked.

“Not completely,” Sirius admitted. “There’s been a number of times they’ve deviated from their course, but the odds are very good we’ll find them there.”

“Then we better get moving,” Cary said. “We wouldn’t want to miss them again.”

Sirius nodded, and helped to pack up their meager belongings. He’d resolved himself that that would be the town where he finally left them. They would finally have their new flock, and he… he would no longer have to worry about being a burden to them. The thought still hurt, though. He wondered how they would take it.

It turned out his prediction was right. The wandering flock turned up the day after they arrived, causing quite a commotion in the streets, singing and dancing and playing music. Keelan wasted no time in joining the group in their festivities, surprising them, though they were quick to welcome him- and Ma and Pa and Alastar, when they made an appearance as well. Only Cary held back, standing beside a sullen Sirius as he simply kept watch over his family.

Sirius took advantage of Cary’s distraction to sneak away from the impromptu party. He needed to be alone to collect himself, to mentally prepare himself for saying goodbye. He wasn’t sure which reaction he feared most- that they would plead with him not to leave, or be happy to be rid of him.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he’d wandered off to be on his own, but it felt like a while, nearly an hour, when he found himself with company. He blinked up at the alpha as Alastar landed in the empty street beside him, and fought down a sigh. That was just his luck.

“Why did you leave?”

“I…” His words caught in his throat.

“Sirius…?”

“I can’t stay,” he finally got out. “I can’t… be a burden on you and your family anymore. It’s not fair to you, and it won’t be fair to the flock if I join them with you, either. I’m going to stay here, with the humans.” He turned his gaze away, unable to take the hurt look in Alastar’s eyes anymore.

“Sirius, you’re _not_ a burden,” the alpha started.

“You just say that to be nice-”

“I mean it,” Alastar interrupted. “You’re _not_. I’d carry you to the ends of the earth, for the rest of my days, if it meant getting to have you by my side.” Sirius looked back up at him in shock. “I’ve been trying to catch your attention for a while now, but I didn’t… want to use the traditional courtship methods. I didn’t want you to feel like I was rubbing it in your face.”

“So all this time you’ve been looking after me, you were…”

Alastar nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “But you never responded to any of it. I see now I… I clearly picked wrong.”

Sirius’ jaw dropped, and he could only stare wordlessly at the alpha. It took him so long to find his voice again that Alastar nearly left. “You didn’t-!” Alastar paused, tucking his wings close again as he gave Sirius a questioning look. “You didn’t pick wrong,” he finally said. “I didn’t… I didn’t realize, what it was you were trying to do.” And he was honestly touched that Alastar had been so thoughtful in his own attempts at courtship. “I’ve been trying to do the same, really. Figure out how to get your attention when the usual methods were unavailable to me.” He let out a helpless laugh. “Aren’t we a pathetic pair?”

Alastar slowly started to smile, and stepped closer to him, stopping less than a pace away. “So- you accept my courtship?”

“I do,” Sirius murmured, leaning into him.

“And you’ll stay with us?”

“Yeah.” Sirius grinned up at him. “Yeah, I’ll stay.” He reached up to stroke one of Alastar’s wings. “…Would you display for me?”

Alastar grinned back at him. “Let’s get back to the party and I’ll display all you want, in front of _everybody_.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey!”

Cary glanced down at the male that had approached him, a wide grin on his face. His gaze swept over the other in a quick assessment; he was small, almost as small as Keelan, claws and talons short and dull. Even his teeth weren’t as sharp. He was covered in sky blue plumage with flecks of white and black here and there, and his eyes were a warm brown that sparkled in mischief.

All in all, he appeared harmless.

Also, he was _adorable_.

Cary felt his wings lift from where they rested against his back, and quickly he folded them back into place, surprised at his reaction. His guest didn’t miss the gesture, grin widening, if that was at all possible. “Goodness, I haven’t even said two words to you yet, and you’re already showing off! I never would have guessed someone with such a grumpy face could be such a _flirt_.”

Cary could feel his face burning. “I’m _not_ ,” he grunted.

“Uh huh.” The smaller male smirked at him. “I’m Benny!”

“Um. Cary.”

“You gonna come dance with us, or just stand there being all grumpy?”

“I don’t dance.”

“Sure, just like you don’t flirt.” He grinned widely and grabbed Cary’s wrists, yanking him into the dancing crowd. He laughed as the alpha yelped and glanced around, wide-eyed. “Come on, live a little!” Benny turned and shook his tailfeathers at Cary in a teasing manner. “You’re siren, you absolutely _can_ dance.”

“I don’t know how…!

“It’s easy! Just follow my lead!”

Cary watched him for a minute. The dance seemed simple enough. Benny glanced back at him, giving him an encouraging smile, so he stepped forward and copied Benny’s movements.

“That’s it! You got it!”

“Yeah! Go Cary!” Keelan cheered. The alpha found himself grinning in response.

Alastar and Sirius were both quite surprised by the sight that greeted them upon returning to the party. Keelan laughed and skipped up to them, pointing out the small blue male that weaved his way in and out of the dancing crowd. “Blame him,” he said.

The two looked at each other.

“…How much you want to bet Cary will start courting him before a month has passed?” Sirius said. Alastar laughed.

~* *~

The local innkeeper had offered them lodging for the night, free of charge. The strange flock hadn’t seen fit to inform the man that the family that had joined them weren’t part of their group, letting them enjoy a free ride for the night. They looked like they’d been having a rough time of it lately. The core of the group, six brightly-colored individuals all from the same stock, stayed up with the family to speak with them.

“I take it you’ve been looking for us,” Kenny asked, the apparent leader of the group. He was mostly a bright yellow, with some streaks of green on his wings.

“For quite a while,” Ma agreed. “A few years, at least.” Benny whistled at that. “You’re hard to track down.”

“Well I can’t say that’s _entirely_ unintentional. We have our enemies, after all.”

“You’ll find no enemies in us,” Cary murmured. “We’ve been hoping to join you.”

“Why?”

They glanced at each other, wondering how much of their story to tell. Finally, Pa spoke, starting from the very beginning, when he and Ma left their original flock.

It was the most Sirius had ever heard of it. He hadn’t known Ma had _killed_ their medicine woman after challenging her for Pa- the murder of an Elder was punishable by death, and Pa would have been slain as well. It was how Pa had come into possession of his collection of medical texts, too; he’d stolen them as they’d fled the island. They had settled in a human country that had seemed promising, and raised their three boys there. The twins had just passed their seventeenth birthday roughly three months before they were forced to run for their lives once again. The king liked to move between the summer and winter palaces as the seasons shifted, and on one such move they’d been ambushed, the king and queen slain. The prince had survived though, and blamed the sirens for the deaths of his parents, apparently thinking they had been in on the assassination.

“That was… about twelve years ago, now. At first we just kept moving around, not wanting to wait around to be found by any hunters sent after us. But it was taking its toll on Keelan’s health, so we started having to stay put longer to make sure he had the strength for another move. After a few years with not even a hint of a hunter on our tails, we figured we were in the clear. And then we came across a village you had recently visited; we’d missed you by a day. The people there were very excited to tell us about you. It was clear they absolutely adored you.”

Jenny, a pure white female, beamed at them. “Oh I love when we leave a good impression on humans! And what about your friend here?”

“They found me, a few months ago,” Sirius said, voice quiet. Alastar took his hand, squeezing gently. “One of my wings was broken by a human, when I was still young. I could still fly somewhat, but then…” He took a deep breath. “Then another flock visited our nesting grounds during their migration. Their leader offered me a place in her flock, but when I found out what she really wanted from me, I turned her down. She… didn’t take kindly to that. She drugged me, clipped my wings, and threw me off a cliff. I’m pretty sure her intention was to drown me, but I landed on some rocks instead. I don’t know how I survived that, but my wings have been useless ever since.”

“Explains the harness,” Penn murmured, eyeing the leather straps over Sirius’ shoulders and chest that kept his wings bound in place. Alastar wrapped his arms around him, making a soft sound Sirius had come to learn meant he was upset.

“You never really said what happened…”

“It’s not really a memory I like to revisit.”

“And with good reason, I’d say,” Ma huffed. “The nerve of that woman! Ooh, if only we’d found you sooner-”

Sirius smirked at her. “I imagine your boys would have given her quite the fright. I rather wish you’d found me then, too.”

“I’m just glad we f-found you at all,” Keelan piped up. “You didn’t- d-didn’t look like you would survive another winter on your own.”

“You were alone?” Kenny asked, frowning at them.

“My old flock migrated without me, didn’t even say goodbye. They just… left me behind.”

“Oh you poor dear,” Jenny crooned. “Kenny, we _have_ to take them with us-” Kenny looked around as the rest of their group nodded in agreement. He smirked.

“Alright, sure. We weren’t planning on heading back to the nesting grounds just yet, but better to introduce you everyone sooner than later.”

“There’s more of you?” Keelan asked, surprised.

“Oh, quite a few more.” Benny grinned widely. “Our flock is, oh… Three hundred strong, at least?”

Ma gaped. “Oh my… Even our flock wasn’t that big!”

“Half of our numbers actually came from other flocks,” Lenny explained. “Much like you, others have left theirs searching for better lives, a place they can fit in. On the rare occasion, their flocks were wiped out by hunters… So you won’t be so out of place.”

“We’ll leave after breakfast tomorrow. Think you’ll be ready by then?”

“Absolutely,” Ma promised.

~* *~

They got to meet the rest of the group properly as Cary helped Alastar fasten the harness into place. The one that caught their attention first was a giant of an eagle that went by Metalbeard- apparently he was one of those rare few whose flock had been wiped out, as he’d been raised by a crew of pirates from a young age. His name was derived from the silvery feathers that adorned his head and chest. He was every bit as huge as the twins, though lacking in every other quality that would mark him as an alpha. With him were his wife, Pearl, and their eldest, Callie (who, to the twins’ amusement, couldn’t seem to stop eyeing up Keelan).

Another oddball looked to be a scarlet macaw in pastel, and she called herself Kitty. It came as no surprise that she was Benny’s best friend, after getting to know the pair a little better. The last two were both quite young, barely into adulthood, and they were clearly close, though it was difficult to tell whether they were also a mated pair or best friends. Emmet was a rather dull, plain brown, and Lucy appeared black with accents of sky blue and pink, but when the sun hit her feathers just right, the black shimmered in brilliant purple. She seemed embarrassed when Alastar did a double take upon seeing that.

“You ready?” Kenny finally asked.

“Lead on,” Pa answered. Lucy raised an eyebrow as Sirius climbed up onto Alastar’s back and gripped the harness tightly, but any remarks she might have made she kept to herself. Finally they flew away from the town and headed toward the nesting grounds.

It took several days to reach it. Kenny led them over a seemingly endless jungle, before finally diving down. They stared in wonder as they swooped over a ravine, nests clinging to the cliff walls. Land on either side had been cleared for more structures and garden plots, where they could see a wide variety of sirens at work. The group sang out a greeting as they flew into the village, heading for a large open pavilion. Judging from its size, and the way many started to make their way toward it at the group’s greeting call, they could guess it was the flock’s community hall.

They were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of sirens that greeted them. Just as Lenny had said, many of them looked like they had come from other flocks. There was such a wide array of colors and patterns, it was mind-blowing.

Sirius kept to himself, at first. He’d been fine, when it had been just the small group in the human town, but being faced with so many strangers took him back to when he’d met _her_ flock. Word of his prior experiences seemed to have gotten around though, as no one seemed to hold it against him.

They finally started to settle into life with their new flock. The twins had met another alpha, a female named Mayhem, and though they were wary of each other at first they soon became fast friends. Pa and Keelan both found a place with the flock’s healers, and Ma had joined the guard with Cary. Alastar had started right on building a nest for the two of them, with some guidance from their new flock. He’d never built on a cliff side before, after all. Sirius wished he could help with its construction, but he’d be worse than useless without working wings. So he looked for ways to keep himself occupied in the meantime.

It was easier to do than he’d expected. These sirens were nothing like his old flock- industrious in ways they never would have even dreamed of. There were gardens, and forges, and a healing hut so large it was sectioned off into many rooms, each with a different purpose. They studied the stars, they wrote words, they made _art_. With his old flock, everything had been purely for survival.

But none of these fascinations really seemed to call to him as something he could see himself doing. So it came as something of a surprise when the Chief Elder herself came to him. It was the first time he’d actually seen her, and she was nothing like any other siren in the flock. Her eyes were the truest blue he’d ever seen, even moreso than the twins’, and her coloration never seemed to stay put- she was always a deep pink color, with patches of orange and purple and sky blue, but the pattern was constantly shifting. _She’s not actually a siren at all_ , he realized. _She’s a shapeshifter_. But she only smiled when she saw the realization in his eyes.

“Your family’s told me a lot about you,” she said. He tilted his head- when had _they_ had any time to meet with her? “They say you’re pretty observant, that you’ve got a way with organization and an eye for detail. And I’ve been keeping an eye on you- you’ve sampled every other job our flock has to offer, but none of it really suits you, does it?”

“I’m afraid not,” he admitted. “I want to do something to be useful, but I- I can’t fly, I can’t fight, I can’t even _sing_ -” her gaze softened as his admission- “and I’m afraid I’ve got no talent for medicine or smithing. And I don’t really care for menial labor…”

“I thought as much.” He glanced back up at her. “You seem pretty bright- Sirius, was it?” He nodded. “I think, once you have the experience, you would make a fine Elder.” He could only stare, stunned- a _male_ Elder? That was unheard of. “Would you like to be my apprentice?”

He fought to find his voice again. “Yes!” he blurted out. “I mean- I’d be honored-” She laughed at him- not cruel, but amused, happy.

“Easy,” she soothed. “‘Yes’ works just fine. Come find me first thing in the morning and we’ll get started.”

“Yes!” he chirped.

Alastar was thrilled to hear it when Sirius told him. “I knew you were meant for amazing things,” he murmured, leaning down to touch his forehead to his partner’s. “I’m sure you’ll be one of the best Elders this flock has ever had.”

Sirius fluffed his feathers at the praise. “Not until I’m ready though,” he said. “I have a lot to learn- I think Elder Watevra wants to get me started on learning their letters. They’ve developed their own alphabet, isn’t that incredible?? And of course I have to learn what all it takes to lead a flock, especially one this big. My old flock… We sort of had Elders, but we were such a small flock that they didn’t have _that_ much power over anyone else. This is going to be quite the learning curve.”

“I know you’ll do well.”


End file.
